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Weird News: Giant Rat Caught

"There's no way it's a common sewer rat," Dr. Robert S. Voss, the Curator of Mammals at The American Museum of Natural History in New York, told HuffPost after reviewing the picture. "I'm 90 percent certain that it's a a Gambian pouched rat."
Voss estimated the rat to be about two-and-a-half feet in length.
Another huge Gambian pouched rat made headlines last year when it was killed in Brooklyn's Marcy houses.
Voss said it's possible this rat was once a pet that could have escaped or been released.
Gambian pouched rats were once imported to the United States for sale as pets, but abc.net.au reports that an outbreak of monkeypox in the early 2000s caused the importation of African rodents to be banned.
Despite its size, Voss said the rat is harmless and docile, so there's no need to be worried if you encounter one. He did, however, recommend walking away and calling animal control immediately.